This our Beautiful lie
by avidmind
Summary: An AU fic about two people who desparately need just a little bit of understanding and maybe a bit of love. Crews/Reese.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own the show life nor do I profit monetaraly in any way from these fics**

**This is an AU fic. :**In this AU-verse Tidwell does not exist. Most of what occurred in the second season occur ed in this fic. ie: Charlie found Rachel.

**December 24 2008**

It was Christmas Eve; a time of Sharing and Caring, of caroling and well-wishing. Yet Dani Reese wanted no part of it.

That's why she was here; In the Bar.

She sat perched on a stool, silently watching as hordes of drunken men and women tumbled about exchanging pleasantry and joining each other in impromptu renditions of all the cheesy Christmas tunes they could conjure up.

For a fleeting moment Dani wished that she could be one of them, drunk and smiling, singing "_Rudolf the red nose reindeer_" at the top of her lungs. It would be so easy just to join them. With one sip she could wash it all away; purge herself of all the unsettling feelings which had chosen to settle in the pit of her stomach. With one bottle she could flush out all the dammed up emotions which kept her heart closed off. But then that wasn't an option. For any step down that path would leave her powerless. Again.

She swiveled around in her seat and stared aimlessly at the glittering bottles staked one after the other along the back wall. She couldn't go home. There was nothing there but the low hum of her refrigerator to keep her company. Her parents' house was out of the question. Her mother hadn't been in a mood for anything even remotely family related since her husband had walked out on her. This was the only place she knew of in the world where she could feel slightly at ease. She knew what to expect here. No one was going to ask her how she was "_feeling?_" or when she planned to "_settle down_?"

She wondered where he was. Crews. He was probably at the station Christmas party exchanging gifts. If he was, then he was defiantly going to get a lot of gifts. Most of the women liked him. They seemed to feel as though they owed him. Like somehow what happened to him was their fault. Dani didn't blame them. Sometimes when they were out driving together she'd look at him and a whispered plea would echo in her mind: "I'm sorry, it was me! I'm so sorry." But instead of uttering the words she would turn away quickly and fix her eyes on a meaningless point far off in the distance.

Dani was lost in thought, when someone's shoulder rubbed against hers. She turned with a menacing look on her face, ready to ward off a rowdy suitor, but instead her icy glare was met with a pair of twinkling blue orbs.

"Well merry Christmas to you too." Charlie said; not in the least intimidated by her inhospitable glare.

Dani's face softened yet she was still unsmiling. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to spread a little holiday cheer Reese." He said cryptically.

An itching silence descended between them.

For a minute Dani looked away in the vain hope that he'd leave. But this was Charlie Crews. He wasn't going to leave until he'd done or said what he came to do or say.

With a weary sigh she asked "How?"

"How What?" He saw the exasperated roll of her eyes. "Oh, you mean how will I spread holiday cheer? Well I came to sit with you Reese." Charlie replied, as though his words elucidated the matter completely.

Like that makes any sense, Dani thought. It was probably one of his stupid Zen Proverbs or something.

"I don't particularlly care were you sit just as long as you remember that sitting doesn't involve talking."

Charlie smiled and nodded his head seeming resigned to her stipulation. Dani turned her attention back to the wall. She wondered how long he'd last.

"You know any of these people Reese?" He asked suddenly.

well not long enough, she thought."No."

"You wanna come over to my place?"

If she'd been chewing somthing Dani would have surely chocked. In all the time that they'd worked together she had never once been to his house. Why now? She considered the whole situation: His coincidental appearance at the same bar she was in and the invitation back to his place…He's probably trying to save me from myself before I get piss-drunk and end up in some dirty motel next to some even dirtier person, She thought. Dani wanted to be offended but she couldn't muster up much indignation she could see his logic. Here she was a recovering alcoholic, sitting alone at a bar; Staring at the beer bottles as if the contained some life giving elixir.

She didn't know what her next words meant, but for some reason she had a feeling that she wouldn't regret them.

"Sure, why not."

As they were driving up the darkened interstate Dani glanced back over her seat. There was a large pile of boxes and packages wrapped in an assortment of shinny paper.

"What's all that?"

"Oh it's my Secret-Santa gift. Someone must have accidentally put my name in a few times." Charlie answered nonchalantly.

Right, Dani thought. His name had been "_accidentally_" thrown in a few hundred times! But she didn't say anything. Instead she peered at his face. Ironically tonight was turning out like most nights. She'd gone to the bar and was now on her way to some guy's place. A wicked grin danced across her lips at the thought. But then again Charlie Crews wasn't just 'some guy'. He was her partner. He didn't want any of _That_ from her. No, he didn't even want to save her…her smile faded. What _did_ he want?

When they crossed the threshold into his living Room Dani was a bit taken aback. The entire room was bare save for a brown leather couch and two chairs. The Man had millions of dollars at his disposal, yet he had hardly any furniture in his house. He was either extremely spend-thrift or somewhat insane. At that moment Dani was leaning more towards the latter.

Charlie saw her expression and his lips twitched into a smile. He should have warned her. "You should have seen it a few weeks ago. I just bought the chairs cause Ted has company over some times."

" And you never have company?" the words slipped out before Dani knew it.

"Well not the sitting kind" Charlie answered. For some reason he felt a little uncomfortable telling her about _that _part of his life.

Dain's eye brow inched upward but she ignored his comment. "So what are we going to do?"

When Charlie had asked her to come he hadn't exactly thought of what would happen when they got here. In all honesty he hadn't expected her to say yes. What did people, well "friends" do on Christmas eve? He tried to think back to his life with Jen, but he came up blank. "Uhm Rachel and Ted are out but we can watch television." He offered.

"Hate to point out the obvious Crews, but you don't have a T.V." Maybe I should have stayed at the Bar, Dani thought.

"But Rachel does. Upstairs in her room." He smiled "I can get some of my secret Santa Cookies from the car." He said hopefully.

"Fine, whatever."

**TBC- reviews are not compulsory but if you'd like me to continued it would be nice of you to tell me so!!!**

** thanks for reading and reviewing!!!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Waking from a dream**

**_AN: this scene takes picks up right where we left off._**

"Would you ever kiss a fish Reese?" Charlie asked.

Dani sighed regretting her hasty decision to watch Splash*. She should have known that Crews would turn what was designed to be a quite night in front of the television into a creepy question and answer session. It was awkward enough watching the kissing scenes with him in the room. Now she had to talk to him, further solidifying the fact that he was there, right next to her.

"It depends" she offered blandly.

"On what?"

"Whether or not it will get you to shut up." She grumbled.

Unfazed, Charlie went on "Well if the fish was pretty and had a killer body then yeah, maybe I would kiss it."

"That's nice to know" Dani mumbled. At times her partner's apparent lack of verbal restraint was amusing, even diverting but at other times (well most of the time) it was plain infuriating. Dani had long since realized the futility of furry though. These days she chose to be mildly befuddled.

"Can I have another cookie?"She asked choosing to change the subject.

Charlie looked around the floor. "No cookies but we do have these." He announced, brandishing a multicolored, overly-festive bag.

"And what are those?"

He ripped the bag open. "Little tiny marshmallows." Charlie took one out and inspected it closely. "You know Reese the pink kind of reminds me of you."

Dani's brow furrowed in confusion. She could have just let his comment hang in the air, but a small part of her wished to hazard a question. "And why is that Crews? I don't like pink. I never wear pink." I don't even own pink underwear, but she didn't add that.

Charlie popped one into his mouth and turned to her with a disarming smile. Peering at her intently he said: "I bet you used to wear a lot of pink when you were a girl but then you probably stopped as soon as you were old enough to decide for your self."

It was a lucky guess, she thought. All girls wore pink.

"You started wearing it again." His voice had lost its usually flippant tone.

Dani tried to dismiss his words as the delusional ramblings of an extremely eccentric man, but she found herself bewitched, unable to tear herself away from his gaze. A strange feeling crept into her chest. With each passing moment it grew stronger until the only thigs she was aware of were her partner's blue eyes.

"You're wearing some right now," Charlie reached up and gently grazed her left cheek with the tip of his finger. "On you cheek."

With a small shrug, he turned his attention back to the television.

Dani's hand involuntarily travelled up to her cheek. She blinked back hot tears which threatened to spill over her eyelids. This wasn't supposed to happen! A random conversation about marshmallows wasn't supposed to elicit any emotions. Crews was her partner, she wasn't supposed to feel that way about him! They'd been partners for over a year and during that time such thoughts had never crossed her mind, but in those milliseconds that their eyes had locked it had been as if she was seeing him for the first time. Every illusion and wall her mind had built had been dashed to pieces. She loved him… Dani Reese was in love with Crews, --Charlie, her partner. She snuck a hurried glance at the side of Charlie's face. It vexed her that he seemed completely unfazed by what had happened. The looks, the smile, the touching, it had meant absolutely nothing to him.

Sighing, Dani turned her eyes back to the television and pretended to be interested in the movie. She knew that love wasn't something you couldn't run away from but it was definitely something which you could hide.

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Charlie's eyes blinked back at the harsh sunlight which poured steadily into the room. He watched as minute specks of dust danced through the air finally coming to rest on a pile of brown hair. Along with the pile of hair a head was gently nestled against his shoulder. Charlie shut his eyes and drank in her scent. A small smile tugged at Charlie's lips; She smelt like oranges just before there were ripe. It had been a long time since he'd woken up with anyone in his arms...well not exactly, but those people had been strangers, even Jen had been a stranger. And While he couldn't claim to know his partner completely, Charlie knew all the important things.

Quite suddenly Charlies placid moment of reflection was interrupted by the squeaking of door hinges as it was pushed open.

Ted stumbled in but quickly stopped short when he noticed the pair on the floor."Charlie? Oh I'm sorry-- I uh didn't mean to barge in..or uh" He fumbled.

"It's fine Ted we were just sleeping" Charlie said evenly.

"I guess I should have knocked but Rachel told me you were up here and ...."

"No it's fine Ted." Charlie repeated

"Well I'll go and um..." Ted mumbled as he quickly retreated out of the room.

As the door shut behind him Dani set up and ran her hand through her disheveled hair. "I've got to go." she announced getting up

Charlies hand grasped hers, holding her in place. "Don't. I'll make you some coffee."

For a moment Dani just stared at his hand. "Okay."

*Splash is a movie about a guy(played by Tom hanks) who falls for a mermaid.

**AN: sorry for the delay. I sort of gave up on this fic but I'm happy to say that I will continue. I'm not exactly of where to take the story so please all suggestions are welcome!!!**

**thanks for you reviews**


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